off topic jargon

[Andy Nicholl]

Hear, hear, Fred!  I was going to include this but I reckoned I had had my
two cents' worth as far as off-topic contributions were concerned.

However, we always know this time of year as the 'silly season' when the
government is on holiday and nothing substantial happens, no serious news,
no political scandals, just a breathing space to let one's hair down a bit.

I came across a sign in Tesco's the other day which said 'TROLLIES THIS
SIDE' in large letters!

When my 2400 gets here, I've no doubt I shall return to on-topic matters.

Cheers,

Andy

-----------------------------------------
Andy Nicholl
Dunfermline, Scotland
fax: 0870 130 4955
email: andynic at bigfoot.com
------------------------------------------



-----Original Message-----
From: Duo/2400 List [mailto:DuoList at lists.themacintoshguy.com]On Behalf
Of Fred Satterwhite
Sent: 02 August 2003 19:51
To: Duo/2400 List
Subject: [Duo2400] Re: off topic jargon


> From: "Andy Nicholl" <andy at andynic.eclipse.co.uk>:
>
> My pet hates are:
> 'envision' (which means to impart a vision to...) instead of
> 'envisage' (to
> have avision oneself)
> 'deteriate' instead of 'deteriORate'
> 'different than' instead of 'different from'
> 'compared to' instead of 'compared with'
> and the dreaded split infinitive - 'to bravely go...'
>

The most irritating one for me is using "less" instead of "fewer" when
referring to quantities of individual items- for example, "I have less
Duos than most people on this list" instead of "I have fewer Duos than
most people on this list." This one is like a nail across a chalk board
when I hear it (or read it).

It's "fewer trees", "less wood"; "fewer lakes", "less water"; "fewer
vegetables", "less food"; and so on...

It seems that "common usage" has corrupted this one beyond recovery,
because I hear it everywhere now. I can let a lot of things slide, but
I still fight on this one whenever I'm editing copy or reviewing
presentations.

--
Fred Satterwhite
bfs19 at adelphia.net